Tubular lock.



A. vC. BELL. -TUBULABLOCL APPLICATION FILED )ULY l0. 1916.

1,228,172, I Pat-elated May 29,1917.

ALBERT C. BELL, OIE' CHICAGO, ILLI1\TOIS, ASSIGNOR TO ADOLPI-I KRETZ AND ULRICH KORNSTEIN, :BOTHA OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

TUBULAR LOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filedA July 10, 1916,.. Serial No. 108,285.

To all whom t may concer/n.:

Be it known that I, ALBERT C. BELL, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Chicago, in the'county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certainv new and useful Improvement in Tubular Locks, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improved form of tubular lock of simple construction, which, however, is none the less effective since it may readily be made vextremely dificult to pick.` In my invention, the casing of the lock is in the form of a .circular tube, all of the parts being preferably located within the outer surface of the tube, so that the only operation required to receive the lock casing inthe door or other article to be fastened by said lock is to bore av hole of substantially the outside diameter of the casing.

My invention may be given a variety of embodiments as best illustrated inthe drawings, in-which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal central sectional view through one form of lock construction,

F ig; 2 .showsA in side elevation a portion of the lock casing shown in Fig. 1*,

Fig. 3 is an endelevation from the left hand of the lock shown in Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 shows the form of key for use with the construction shown in Fig. 1,

Figs. 5 and 6 show in views similar to Fig. l other forms of lock construction, the construction shown in Fig. 6 being the preferred form,

Fig. 7 shows in side view the casing for either of the constructions shown'in Figs. 5

and 6,

Fig. 8 is an end view of the casing taken from the right hand in Fig. 7,

construction employed in the construction of lock shown in Fig. 5,

Fig. '10 is a sectional view ofl the bolt shownin Fig. 9 taken along theline 13-13,

Fig. V11 shows in a view similar to Fig. 1 a portion of a lock casing of modified construction in which the springs are formed integrally with the wall of the casing and,

Fig. l2 shows in top view a modified form of spring construction which may be employed with several of the different lock constructions.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Asshown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the lock consists of the metal tube 20 having tongues 21 projecting from its left hand end and entering notchesformed therefor in the plate 22, by means of which the tube 2O is secured to vsaid plate preferably by riveting over the ends ofthe tongues2l. The plate 22 has formed therethrough co-aXially with the tube 20 a hole of substantially the same size as the bore of the tube 20 so that the bolt 23 may readily pass through the said hole when the lock is operated. The bolt 23 is preferably given the conformation indicated by means of suitable dies and is rigidly secured upon the left vhand end of a tube 24 which extends nearly to the right hand end of the casing 20. The casing 20 has formed in its upper portion a long slot 25 into which the' spring 26v may enter when operated by the key 27 vshown in Fig. 4. The wall of the casing near the observer is provided with a slot 28, as indicated in Fig. 2, to receive the key 27, and the opposite wall of the tube casing is provided with a hole 29 to support the end of the key, there being clearance slots 30 formed in either side of the tube 24 to permit longitudinal motion kof said tube relatively to said key. The

lower portion of the tube 24 is provided with a clearance slot 31 and the upper portion of said tube is provided with two adjoining slots 32 through which the operating portion of the key may pass to engage the spring 26 so as to raise the bent end 33 of said spring from engagement with the slot 34 formed in the upper portion of the tube'in which said bent end may rest. The spring 26 is provided with a projecting bent portion 35 resting in t-he end of the slot 24 Fig. 9 shows in side elevation' the bolt and continues inside of the casing 20 to its right handv end where it extends across the casing'andinside ythe opposite side of the casing and terminates in a bent end 36 resting in aslot formed vtherefor in the wall of Patented May 2e, 191 '7.

raises the spring 26 so' as to disengage the bent end 33 from the tube 311, after whichV continued motion of the key engages the end of the slot 32 and moves the tube 24C and bolt 23 longitudinally in the lock casing a sufficient distance so that the spring 26 engages the next one of the slots 34E. If desired, a second slot 32 may be provided so that to completely throw the bolt of the lock either to its locking or unlocking position a second rotation of the key is required. It will be observed, as a result of the construction of the parts that the outward motion of the spring 26 does not cause the spring to pass outside of the outer cirraunference of the casing 2O and therefore, in mounting the lock in place in t-he door or other part to be secured by said lock, it is only necessary to bore ahole of substantially the diameter of the outside of the casing in order that the look may be inserted in place, and there is no danger of the part-s binding or operating imperfectly since they do not in any case project outside of the outer cylindrical surface of the casing.

In the construction shown in Fig. 5, the tubular casing is provided withnpper and lower longitudinal slots 61 and 62 respectively forl receiving the ends of the spring 63, each end of this spring being similarly formed to the upper portion of the spring 26 shown in Fig. 1 and having a bent end for the same purpose as referred to for the bent end 33 of the spring 26. In this construction, however, the spring 63 eX- tends over the casing and outside of the 'end thereof to connect the end portions of the spring together and the casing under the spring is flat-tened slightly as indicated in Figs. 7 and 8, so that the spring may be wholly contained within -the outer circumference of the tubular casing 60. The

bolt in this case consists of a tube 64 loosely fitting the bore of the casing 60 and closed at its left hand end by a plug 65. The bolt 64 is provided with operating, clearance and locking slots substantially the same as those illustrated for the tube 24: in Fig. 1, the only difference being that locking slots are provided in both the upper and lower portions of the bolt. In this construction, the portions of the bolt engaged by the spring 63 are flattened as indicated more clearly in Figs. 9 and 10 to afford clearance for the ends of the spring so that when the spring is operated it may not project through thel slots 61v and 62 beyond the outer surface of theV casing.

ln the construction shown in Fig. 6, the casing 65 is substantially the same as the casing 60 shown in Fig. 5 and the spring 66 Yis substantially the same as the spring 63 and operates in the same manner, the principal dierence being that in this construction the bolt is formed from sheet metal by suitable dies as indicated at 67 and is rigidly secured upon the left hand end of the tube 68 which is of circular cross section from end to end and carries the clearance and locking slots in substantially the manner shown and described in connection with Fig.

5. This construction is the preferred embodseparately formed, for the reason that the o material of the lock casing to be easily worked by the forming dies is too soft to give the proper spring tension.

lf desired'each engaging end of the loeking spring may consist of two parts as indicated in Fig. 12 at 73, so that each operating portion of the key mayvhave two dis tinct operating surfaces, each formed to meet the requirements of the corresponding portion of the end of the locking spring and the bent ends of these portions may project different amounts if desired, giving a basis for changing the shape of the key required to operate the lock, so that each style of lock may haveV a number of different keys each capable of operating but a single one of the locks.

As a result of the construction described, it will be observed that by my invention, l provide a lock which is both cheap to make and extremelyl eliicient for the reason that, before the lock can be picked it is necessary to simultaneously remove all of the locking portions of the spring from engagement with the bolt and move the bolt longitudinally in the casing. My lock is applicable, therefore, to a wide variety of uses, such as doors for houses, for furniture, and in fact for any purpose except where the very highest grade of protection is required.

While l have shown my invention in the particular embodiments above described, l do not however limit myself to this construe tion, as I may employ equivalents thereof known to the art at the time of the filing of this application without departing from the ing, and a spring'carried by the casing hav- 13e ing its locking end Within the inner surface of the casing and resting upon the smaller diameter portion of said bolt to in part guide said bolt, said spring having a bent end and said bolt having openings therethrough cooperating With said bent end for holding said bolt in its locking and unlocking positions, said bolt having openings therethrough for permitting the insertion and turning of a key to disengage said spring from said bolt and move said bolt in said casing.

2. In a lock construction, the combination i of a tubular casing, a tubular bolt in the easing having a portion of smaller diameter than the internal diameter of' the casing, said bolt having an enlarged head at one end of substantially the inner diameter of the casing, and a-spring carried by the casing having its locking end Within the inner surface of the casing and resting upon the smaller diameter portion of said bolt to in part guide said bolt, said spring having a bent end and said bolt having openings therethrough coperating with said bent end for holding said bolt in its looking and unlocking positions, said bolt having openings therethrough for ermitting the insertion and turning of a ey todisengage said spring from said bolt and move said bolt in said casing, and said easing having a clearance slot therethrough to permit outward movement of said spring, the outermost po-` sition of said spring being Within the outer surface of said casing. Y

3. In a look oonstruetiomthe combination of a tubular casing,'a tubular bolt in the casing having a portion of smaller diameter than the internal diameter of the casing, said bolt having an .enlarged head at one end of substantially the linner diameter of the easing, and a spring carried by the casing having its locking end Withinthe inner surface of the casing and resting upon the smaller diameter portion of said bolt to in part guide said bolt, said spring having a bent end and said bolt having openings therethrough coperating With said bent end for holding said bolt in its looking and unlocking positions, said bolt having openings therethrough for permitting the insertion and turning of a key to disengage said spring from said bolt and move said bolt in said casing, said spring being separate from said easing and having bent projections holding it in place in said casing.

In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 7th day of July, A. D. 1916.

v ALBERT C. BELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

